USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 17
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Philip Renault, a Frenchman, in about 1763, on his way to the Louisiana country, purchased at the then colony of France-San Domingo -five hundred Negroes to work his prospective mines in the West. He, like other adventurers, was looking for mines. They, however, proved unprofitable. From these most likely sprang the Negroes who partic- ipated in the early settlement of this country. It is true, some in later years were brought across the continent from Kentucky, Virginia and other eastern states.
As a general proposition, the early settlers of western Missouri were too poor to own slaves. What few there were, however, were useful in the development of western Missouri.
The Negro has been much misrepresented and vilified. So has his former master. Much has been said of the ill-treatment by the master, and want of fidelity on the part of the old slave. The facts are that there was generally the strictest fidelity to the whites by the Negro, and kind- est treatment of the Negro by the master. They were one common family. All had one common interest and each performed his part well in the development of this country.
A New Englander, traveling in this part of the West, he himself
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
being imbued with the idea of the brutality of the master to the slave, writes home the results of his own observations in his travel in the South and West. He writes: "The inscription on another plain but respectable monument was to me affecting. It purports to be erected as a grateful. record of the long, faithful and affectionate services of a black slave. The whole inscription wears a delightful simplicity, and honors the master that erected it as much as the slave."
The writer could relate incidents of personal fidelity and gratitude of the Negro. A female slave, putting her own body between the master and danger, to protect the master to her own danger. Again, a young Negro man of seventeen years of age, being taken South from his people to work among strangers as a slave, was purchased by a white man and given a home. The Negro lived beyond his seventy years. No time did the Negro ever cease, not only to have gratitude in his heart, but never ceased to express on all occasions his profound gratitude to this mas- ter and to his descendants, after the old master's death. This Negro, in his old days, was absolutely free to ask for what he wanted from his benefactor's family. At the old Negro's death, the white family of his old master were the mourners at the funeral. The pall-bearers were all white men and he rests today with what he always called his own people -white and black. This is not an unusual case of the early settler and his Negro servant.
Before the day of banks in our county it was not unusual to send money, sometimes in the thousands of dollars, by a faithful negro to Lexington, Independence and Booneville, for deposit in the banks there. Don't get the idea the Negro was simply the beast of burden. Fre- quently he was called into the councils to determine the advisability of certain business enterprises. In an early day the whites and Negroes belonged to the same church, worshipped at the same altars. Master and servant labored side by side to upbuild His cause among all colors. Sun- day belonged to the Negro for worship. Saturday's profits belonged to himself.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
STATISTICAL.
POPULATION-SHIPMENTS-PRODUCTION-SCHOOLS-AGRICULTURAL-LIVE STOCK -SELECTED CROPS-DOMESTIC ANIMALS-VALUATION-TAXATION.
POPULATION CASS COUNTY.
Population at the last Federal Census; color, sex and nativity of inhabitants and birthplace of foreigners; other facts :
Total population 22,973
England
40
Rural population 22,973
France
18
White population 22,463
Germany 160
Negro population
510
Greece
3
Native white 22,095
Holland
7
Foreign born
368
Ireland
35
Male inhabitants, number __ 11,786
Mexico
13
Female inhabitants, number 11,187
Russia
3
Males of voting age
6,711
Scotland
5
Sweden
13
Switzerland
23
Wales
2
Belgium
1
Canada
47
Denmark
1 1
5
Total
368
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Dwellings, number 5,490
Families
5,543
Foreign Nationalities-
Austria
1
All others
2
1
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1
215
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
SURPLUS SHIPMENTS, CASS COUNTY, 1912.
The following table gives the commodities shipped from the county in 1912, as supplied by the railroad and express agents, on whose accu- racy and care it depends how complete they are. Nothing sold and con- sumed locally is included :
Live Stock-
Cattle, head
19,439
Lumber, feet 66,000
Hogs, head 128,825
Horses and mules, head
3,237
Walnut logs, feet. 198,000
Railroad ties 500
Goats, head
480
Cordwood, cords 120
Farmyard Products-
Poultry, live, pounds ___ 1,144,464
Poultry, dressed, pounds 162,208
Corn, bushels
249,700
Oats, bushels
32,420
Rye, bushels 3
Timothy seed, bushels. 1,139
Packing House Products-
Flaxseed, bushels 8,810
Hides and pelts, pounds 170,832
Clover seed, bushels 79
Dressed meats, pounds_ 11,143
Millet seed, bushels 360
Hay, tons 7,812
Lard, pounds 3,746
Straw, tons
360
Flowers and Nursery Products-
Tobacco, pounds
21
Nursery stock, pounds_ 25,000
Popcorn, pounds
362
Blue grass seed, pound_
17,000
Cowpeas, bushels
170
Planting and garden
seed, pounds
360
Milk and cream, gallons 426,737
Nuts, pounds
75,153
Mill Products-
Flour, barrels 11,307
Corn meal, pounds 134,596
Bran, shipstuff, pounds_ 735,140
Feed, chops, pounds 303,786
Furs, pounds
9,453
Farm Crops-
Wheat, bushels 661,100
Eggs, dozen 1,319,370
Feathers, pounds 9,710
Stone and Clay Products- Brick, cars 1
Tallow, pounds 21,255
Cut flowers, pounds 412,139
Dairy Products-
Butter, pounds 306,208
Ice Cream, gallons 2,310
Liquid Products- Vinegar, gallons 18
Cider, gallons 1,135
Fish and Game Products-
Game, pounds 44,421
Jacks, stallions, head_ 12
Forest Products-
Logs, feet 55,000
Sheep, head
16,382
216
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Medicinal Products-
Roots and herbs, lbs
52
Peaches, baskets 25
Vegetables-
Plums, baskets 25
Vegetables, pounds
330
Pears, baskets 732
Mine and Quarry Products-
Pickles and cucumbers, pounds
30
Coal, tons
9,600
Potatoes, bushels
81
Unclassified Products-
Onions, bushels
123
Junk, cars
8
Canned vegetables and fruits, pounds
2,643
Wool and Mohair-
Fruits-
Miscellaneous fresh
Mohair, pounds 163
fruits, pounds
1,176
Apiary and Cane Products-
Dried fruits, pounds
20
Honey, pounds
2,455
Apples, barrels
17,980
Beeswax, pounds
70
Grapes, baskets
12
Sorghum molasses, gals. 321
PRODUCTION OF STAPLE FARM CROPS, CASS COUNTY, 1912.
Average yield per acre; acres planted; total yield for county.
Av. yield
Acres
Total yield
Staple.
per acre.
Planted.
in bushels.
Wheat
17
19,024
323,408
Oats
32
16,258
520,256
Corn
32
130,847
4,187,104
Hay and forage
41,594
54,072
STATISTICS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CASS COUNTY, 1913-14.
No. of districts in county
121
No. of teachers in county.
183
Enumeration of county
6,060
Amount spent for teachers' salaries
$42,244.59
Amount spent for incidental expenses
10,816.41
Permanent school fund
140,469.27
Allotment of State school funds
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16,783.93
Ice, tons 150
Wool, pounds 70,003
217
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
TABLE A .- AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS FOR THE COUNTY.
Population
22,973
Number of farms
3,251
Color and Nativity of Farmers-
Native white
3,147
Foreign-born white
96
Negro and other non-white
8
Number of Farms, Classified by Size-
3 to 9 acres
80
10 to 19 acres
100
20 to 49 acres
452
50 to 99 acres
895
100 to 174 acres
1,030
175 to 259 acres
417
260 to 499 acres
218
500 to 999 acres
53
1,000 acres and over
6
Land and Farm Area, Acres-
Approximate land area, acres
461,440
Land in farms, acres.
425,128
Improved land in farms, acres.
375,528
Woodland in farms, acres.
35,845
Other unimproved land in farms, acres
13,755
Per cent. of land area in farms
92.1
Per cent. of farm land improved.
88.3
Average acres per farm
130.8
Average improved acres per farm
115.5
Value of Farm Property-
All farm property
$35,683,052
Land
25,766,704
Buildings
4,431,102
Implements and machinery
749,969
Domestic animals, poultry and bees
4,735,277
Per cent. of Value of all Property in-
Land
72.2
Buildings
12.4
Implements and machinery
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$10,976
9,289 60.61
3,210
35,913
11,881
5,203
4,876
4,631
4,325
4,997
$1,107,876
Horses-
Total number
Mature horses
Yearling colts
Spring colts
Value
Mules-
Total number
Mature mules
Yearling colts
Spring colts
Value
Asses and burros-
Number
Value
Swine-
Total number
Mature hogs
218
Domestic animals, poultry and bees
Average Values-
All property, per farm
Land and buildings, per farm Land, per acre.
DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
(Farms and Ranges.)
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Farms reporting domestic animals
Value of domestic animals
Cattle-
Total number Dairy cows
Other cows
Yearling heifers
Calves
Yearling steers and bulls
Other steers and bulls
Value
18,771
15,730
2,153
888
$2,065,424
4,476
916 3,166
$ 560,953
19'
47,610
50,427 82,809
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
$4,531,184
394
219
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Spring pigs
32,382
Value'
$108,329
Sheep-
Total number
19,890
Rams, ewes and wethers
11,892
Spring lambs
7,998
Value
$
1,935
Goats-
Number
781
Value
-$
1,935
Poultry and Bees-
Number of poultry of all kinds
317,560
Value
$ 191,910
Number of colonies of bees.
4,004
Value
12,183
TABLE B .- FARMS OPERATED BY OWNERS.
Number of farms
2,099
Per cent. of all farms
64.6
Land in farms, acres
270,966
Improved land in farms, acres
239,257
Value of land and buildings
I $19,540,403 1
Degree of ownership-
Farms consisting of owned land only
1,501
Farms consisting of owned and hired land.
598
Color and nativity of owners-
Native white
2,023
Foreign-born white
73
Negro and other nonwhite
3
Farms operated by tenants-
Number of farms
1,123
Per cent. of all farms
34.5
Land in farms, acres
144,339
Improved land in farms, acres 1
128,158
Value of land and buildings
$ 9,912,663
Form of tenancy :
Share tenants
489
Share-cash tenants
300
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Cash tenants
324
Tenure not specified
10
Color and nativity of tenants-
Native white
1,098
Foreign-born white
21
Negro and other nonwhite.
4
Farms operated by managers-
Number of farms
29
Land in farms, acres
9,823
Improved land in farms, acres
8,113
Value of land and buildings
$744,740
MORTGAGE DEBT REPORTS.
For all farms operated by owners-
Number free from mortgage debt
992
Number with mortgage debt
1,096
Number with no mortgage report
11
For farms consisting of owned land only-
Number reporting debt and amount
718
Value of their land and buildings
$ 7,267,205
Amount of mortgage debt. $ 1,930,388
Per cent. of value of land and buildings
26.6
TABLE C .- COST OF OPERATING FARMS.
Labor-
Farms reporting
1,499
Cash expended
$
187,234
Rent and board furnished
$ 54,601
Fertilizer-
Farms reporting
20
Amount expended
$ 1,047
Feed-
Farms reporting
1,509
Amount expended
$
347,471
Receipts from sale of feedable crops. $ 388,759
221
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
TABLE D .- LIVE STOCK PRODUCTS.
DAIRY PRODUCTS.
Dairy cows on farms reporting dairy products, number
11,011
Dairy cows on farms reporting milk produced, number 10,522
Milk-Produced, gallons 2,966,702
Sold, gallons
282,723
Cream sold, gallons
20,125
Butter fat sold, pounds
196,730
Butter-Produced, pounds 490,909 1 1 1
Sold, pounds
175,497
Cheese-Produced, pounds
190
Value of dairy products excluding home use of milk and cream_$
201,888
Receipts from sale of dairy products
$ 136,920
POULTRY PRODUCTS.
Poultry-Raised, number
457,258
Sold, number
147,317
Eggs-Produced, dozens
1,463,794
Sold, dozens
1,023,721
Value of poultry and eggs produced
$ 456,074
Receipts from sale of poultry and eggs
$ 254,066
MONEY AND WAX.
Honey produced, pounds
58,701
Wax produced, pounds
336
Value of honey and wax produced
$
6,285
WOOL, MOHAIR AND GOAT HAIR.
Wool, fleeces shorn, number
9,116
Mohair and goat hair, fleeces shorn, number
69
Value of wool and mohair produced
$ 17,311
DOMESTIC ANIMALS SOLD OR SLAUGHTERED.
Calves-Sold or slaughtered, number
3,966
Other cattle-Sold or slaughtered, number
19,799
Horses, mules, asses and burros-Sold, number
5,863
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Swine-Sold or slaughtered, number
100,882
Sheup and goats-Sold or slaughtered, number
9,517
Receipts from sale of animals $ 2,934,437
Value of animals slaughtered
$ 189,509
TABLE E .- VALUE OF ALL CROPS.
Total
$ 3,267,090
Cereals
2,264,453
Other grains and seeds
32,909
Hay and forage
603,836
Vegetables
140,220
Fruits and nuts
69,328
All other crops
157,344
SELECTED CROPS.
(Acres and Quantity.)
CEREALS.
Total acres
166,257
Bushels
3,752,948
Corn, acres
128,383
Bushels
3,009,938
Oats, acres Bushels
492,516
Wheat, acres
16,567
Bushels
236,642
Emmer and spelt, acres Bushels
7,182
Barley, acres'
15
Bushels
166
Rye, acres
137
Bushels
1,531
Kafir corn and milo maize, acres
305
Bushels
4,953
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478
20,367
223
3,262
22,050
63,899
76,727
61,472
72,084
20,163
22,922
35,768
41,204
3,664
3,672
946
568 2,969
942
363
375
1,385 1,076
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1,239
3,131
1,080
24 83,019
3,262
976
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34,999
Flaxseed, acres
Bushels
Total acres
Tons
Tons
Tons
Tons
Alfalfa, acres
Tons
Tons
Tons
Tons
Tons
Coarse forage
Potatoes, acres
Bushels
Sweet potatoes and yams, acres
All other vegetables, acres
Tobacco, acres
Pounds
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SPECIAL CROPS.
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Millet or Hungarian grass, acres
Other tame or cultivated grasses, acres
Wild, salt or prairie grasses, acres
Grains cut green, acres
Tons
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HAY AND FORAGE.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
OTHER GRAINS AND SEEDS.
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Tons Timothy and clover mixed, acres Timothy alone, acres.
Clover alone, acres
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Bushels
224
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Cane, sorghum, acres
279
Tons
1,145
Syrup (made), gallons
7,269
FRUITS AND NUTS.
Orchard fruits-
Total trees
180,676
Bushels
89,107
Apples, trees
109,281
Bushels
80,994
Peaches and nectarines, trees
45,511
Bushels
5,080
Pears, trees
6,106
Bushels
1,460
Plums and prunes, trees
11,912
Bushels
854
Cherries, trees
7,198
Bushels
695
Grapes, vines
33,562
Pounds
294,110
Small fruits-
Total acres
97
Quarts
112,841
Strawberries, acres Quarts
18,937
Blackberries and dewberries, acres
66
Quarts
80,470
Nuts, trees
3,078
Pounds
59,505
TABLE F .- DOMESTIC ANIMALS NOT ON FARMS.
Number reported
865
Value of domestic animals
$ 176,955
Cattle-
Total number
740
Value
$
32,839
Number of dairy cows
535
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Horses-
Total number
1,192
Value
$
127,872
Number of mature horses
1,150
Mules and asses and burros-
Total number
63
Value
$
9,465
Number of mature mules
51
Swine-
Total number
721
Value
$
6,659
Sheep and goats-
Total number
24
Value
$
120
ASSESSED VALUATION, CASS COUNTY, 1913.
Average Assessed
Real Estate.
Number of.
Assessed Valuation. $5,540,541 1,088,923
Value.
Land, acres
442,579
$12.52
Town lots
6,513
167.19
Total assessed value of real estate
Personal property-
Horses
13,721
$ 512,426
$37.42
Mules
3,626
139,349
38.43
Asses and jennets.
173
12,725
73.55
Cattle
20,740
274,832
13.25
Sheep
8,442
15,173
1.80
Hogs
30,363
92,963
3.06
Money, notes, bonds, etc.
766,287
Bank stock
316,172
All other personal property
281,169
Total valuation of personal property
$2,411,096
Total taxable wealth
$9,040,560
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$6,629,464
226
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
RATE OF TAXATION, CASS COUNTY, 1913-14.
The following table shows the rate of taxation on each $100 of assessed valuation. Property is assessed, generally, from one-half to one-fifth of its actual worth, depending upon the extent of the returns made, the character of the property, its location and whether the holding is bringing in an income, and the amount of the same:
County levy
$ .40
Good roads
.25
County school
.58₺
School tax in Raymore and Drexel, each 1.60 1 1
Municipal tax in largest city, Pleasant Hill
1.60
Total amount of county indebtedness 497,000.00
Municipal or township indebtedness 107,000.00
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CHAPTER XXXVIII.
OLD SETTLERS' MEETING.
ORGANIZATION-R. A. BROWN, CHAIRMAN-ADDRESS BY JUDGE GIVAN-LIST OF OLD SETTLERS-LISTS OF OLD SETTLERS-"AN OLD SETTLER'S TALK," BY MARTIN RICE.
Some forty years ago there was held at Harrisonville, Missouri, a meeting, at which all settlers whose residence of the county ante-dated 1846 were supposed to have met. This meeting will be remembered long and their proceedings deserve to be preserved for future residents of the county. Great is the regret earlier meetings were not held and earlier history thereby preserved. It is a sad matter that we who have succeeded these venerable men and women have not kept up these interesting gath- erings. We will take bodily the proceedings had at that meeting that much early history of the county may be preserved. It is as follows : At a preliminary meeting held by the old settlers of Cass County, in Sep- tember, 1879, for the purpose of organizing an Old Settlers' Society, the following proceedings were had:
The meeting was called to order by Thomas Holloway, who nom- inated R. A. Brown as chairman. Mr. Brown, on taking the stand, said : "After tendering to you my kind regards for this manifestation of your respect, in asking me to preside over so important a meeting, I will an- nounce that we have met for the purpose of paving the way to reach and work out biographical and historical events from the earliest settlement of Cass County down to the present time.
"It affords me a very great comfort, my old friends and comrades, to meet so many of you here today. Thirty odd years ago we met in what was then Van Buren County. Then we were in the vigor of life and manhood, and buoyant with hopes for the future. How sad the thought,
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to you and to me, when we look back over the past, to know that a vast number of our old pioneer friends, whom we could count by the score, have gone the way of all the earth-to reap their rewards in the great hereafter.
"Let this fact admonish us, my old veteran friends (the few of us who are yet here), that we must soon follow. We are now in the 'sear and yellow leaf' of life; some of us have passed our three score years and ten. Let us hold ourselves in readiness. Our lives are a series of wan- derings, which will soon cease at the brink of the grave. Let us live in such a way as to be admitted to that inheritance-that Canaan where we may enjoy forever the friendships which have here commenced."
A. Easley was chosen secretary. All residents of the county, who came prior to 1846, and were twenty-one years old, were included in the call for forming the society. J. W. Williams, H. G. Glenn, Thomas Hollo- way, J. Coughenour and A. Easley were appointed a committee to draft a constitution and a plan of organization. At this preliminary meeting, the following old settlers were present: R. A. Brown, A. Easley, A. Bybee, P. Franse, J. Couchenour, W. Payne, William Adams, Thomas Holloway, W. C. Burford, J. Flinn, J. H. Williams, Isaac Woolard, Isom Majors, David Majors, J. S. Wheeler, J. F. Brooks, L. Ground, Wilson Davenport, E. L. Tuggle, H. G. Glenn, Jesse Ragan, Martin Burris, L. Bradberry.
Below will be found the address of Judge Noah M. Givan, delivered in the town of Harrisonville, September 20, 1879, at the old settlers' meeting, which occurred that day. The address is written in plain Eng- lish, and within the comprehension of all, and being replete with much of the early history of the county, we deem it eminently worthy of pres- ervation :
"PIONEERS OF CASS COUNTY: I wish to express to you my sincere thanks for the honor you have conferred upon me in inviting me to ad- dress you on this occasion. The purpose of your organization is, indeed, commendable. Every citizen of the county must feel an interest in pre- serving its early history, for, 'The heart, methinks, were of strange mold which keeps no cherished print of earlier, happier times.' Besides, these annual reunions must be a source of much pleasure to those of you who came to the country in its early times, and who endured the hardships of a frontier life. They enable you to take each other by the hand and talk over the incidents of long ago. Though your pioneer lives were attended
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with many of the privations and few of the comforts of life now enjoyed by the people of the county, yet there was untold pleasure arising from your honest toil which might well excite the envy of those of us who follow you.
"Cass County was, prior to its separate organization, a portion of Jackson. Indeed, in the still earlier times, Cass and Jackson were both a portion of Cooper County. In the winter of 1834 and 1835 the county of Van Buren was organized, which embraced all that is now Cass, and townships 40, 41 and 42, now a portion of Bates. In obtaining an ac- count of the early events of the county I have been compelled to call upon yourselves and your compeers for information of matters not of record. The first settlements made in the county were along the streams, near the timber. Many came from timbered countries and did not dream of being able to live out on the bleak and barren prairies, far from timber and water. It may be truthfully said that the dreams of the most vis- ionary of the very earliest settlers did not think that the prairies would ever be occupied. It is said that when the first government surveyors, in making the survey of lands in this county, reached the highest point on the prairie northwest of Harrisonville, and looked over the vast prairies south of them, stopped their work, returned to headquarters, and re- ported that the land south of the survey, which would include the south half of the county, was not worth surveying. They so reported to the government, and it was some time after that that the balance of the county was surveyed. The first settlements were made along Big Creek and the headwaters of Grand River. The name of the first settler is not definitely known. Possibly, as is generally the case in new countries, two or more families came together for mutual aid and protection. Mar- tin Rice, Esq., who has given the matter considerable attention, and who still lives near Lone Jack, in Jackson County, furnishes the following :
"My present recollection goes back only to the fall of 1833. At that time there were, perhaps, seventy-five or a hundred families in what is now Cass County scattered in neighborhoods on all the principal streams or groves of timber. I remember hearing it said about the year 1837 that David Butterfield was the oldest settler in the county, and that his first location in it was north of Pleasant Hill, on or near the present VanHoy farm. A few years ago David Dealy, one of the first settlers of Jackson County, informed me that David Creek was the first to locate in the county of Cass; but I think his location was north of the line, in the
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present limits of Jackson County. A brother-in-law of Senator Cockrell, who came to Lafayette County in 1827, informed me that in 1828, in moving a drove of sheep to Harmony Mission, he stayed over night with a squatter named John Walker, north of Pleasant Hill, who was the only white settler in all that region of country. Whether Butterfield, Creek or Walker was first I cannot say. All accounts agree, however, that the first cabin was at or near the VanHoy farm. At what time the first settle- ment was made on the Grand River waters, or by whom, or at what point, I have no definite information, I think, perhaps, Walker McLelland was among the first, if not the first. The creek upon which he settled was named McLelland's Fork of Grand River. Parson John Jackson, a Bap- tist minister, who is remembered by hundreds of the present citizens, and who is the father of John L. Jackson, the present county assessor, was his neighbor and settled there about the same time. I remember hearing a gentleman who assisted Jackson in moving from the Little Blue say they had no road, and that they followed McLelland's single wagon back to a point in the high prairie where an elk's horns hung upon a stake, which indicated the point where he should leave the road and seek the newly selected home in the woods. That home was some four of five miles northwest of Harrisonville, and the spring of 1832 the date.
"Soon afterward Sidney Adams, who still lives in the county, settled near Mr. McLelland's, as did also James Blakely, who settled where your president, Robert A. Brown, now lives. John Cook settled on and im- proved what is now known as the Hansbraugh farm, northwest of Har- risonville. His son, William Cook, lived north and a little east of his father, about one mile.
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